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I saw this today and I liked it a lot better than my wife did at the time...

Posted by Audiophilander (A) on January 20, 2007 at 19:14:43

In Reply to: Pan's Labyrinth posted by tunenut on January 20, 2007 at 17:44:00:

... but I must admit that after discussing the film we reached a consensus that it needed at least one more thorough rewrite. In spite of its startling visual images and engrossing tale, it has far too many plot holes for a film of this caliber and as a result it became far too manipulative. Examples of logic problems (WARNING: SPOILERS follow)...
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1) The extra key: After leading the nationalists on a wild goose chase in their ploy to attack the main camp and get into the storeroom, why did the resistance need to have a key to open it? They set off explosions during the attack; why couldn't they have just blown open the storeroom and avoided leaving the Captain's housekeeper under suspicion? It was an easy plot device to enable the big confrontation and reveal her as a traitor.

2) The Captain was effectively evil, even believably so, but from a storytelling standpoint far too two dimensional. He would've been much more interesting and effectively creepy had his cruelty been rolled out gradually and not so apparent to everyone around him.

My wife, who under several nom-de-plumes is a professional writer, will now add her comments (take it away Rox)...

(ahem) Rox here. My husband liked the movie better than I did, which is odd; I was really put off by what I saw as extremely lazy storytelling. I understand the symbolism that was on offer, but I don't care for symbolism that ignores simple logic. To wit:

1) As my husband outlined above, the plot point of the lock being obviously opened with a key was simply lazy. Had the resistance really cared about their most valuable intelligence operative, they would never have made such an obvious mistake. They'd have forced the lock, or blown up the door.

2) The "OMG!" moment where the Captain realizes that the doctor is a traitor is simply untenable. The doctor had antibiotics; surely antibiotics were not his sole province. Medics would have them, hospitals would have them, and simply holding up one phial and comparing it to another tells you nothing. The Captain didn't bother to ask if perhaps the drugs had been stolen from him, or if a partisan had simply tricked him into giving them. Granted, the Captain wasn't exactly a deep thinker, but still. It was simply convenient. Also, the captain chose to kill the doctor BEFORE the baby was born? Why? What could he possibly lose by keeping him alive until after the event?

3) The girl is, to me, a cipher. She does nothing that, strictly speaking, actually moves the plot. She is a reactor, not an actor. Even at the end, she bravely saves her brother, and yet at the critical moment she neither fights back nor truly sacrifices herself. She simply lets the Captain take the baby. The fact that he shoots her is an afterthought. Ergo ... what difference did it really make?

4) The segment in the tunnel with the child-eating monster is truly scary and visually interesting, but again ... why? Ofelia does simply the stupidest possible thing she can, against clear orders and instructions and even the interference of her little fairy friends. It's an instance again of lazy storytelling ... the creature needed to wake up, so they had her do something stupid. There are far better ways to structure that scene.

5) Why did the fairies in that scene point to the wrong keyhole? And more importantly, what made her realize which one was right? It simply didn't make sense. The fairies were never tricky or mischevious (which I would have welcomed, actually). Why would she doubt them?

... I could go on, because there are tons more examples, but I think you see my point. I was frustrated *as a storyteller* because it simply didn't bother to even try to think beyond the easy answers.

One last thing: why do art directors think chairs raised twenty feet in the air is cool? HOW DO THEY GET UP THERE? It's goofy. It's design at the expense of practicality, a staple (unfortunately) of SF and fantasy art direction.

Okay, that's Rox's rant. Sorry. I love Guillermo's films, I really do, but this just didn't do it for me.

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Cheers,
AuPh (Cat) ...with a rare appearance by... *ta-da* ...my wife, Roxanne

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